Chapter 31

“Boss!”

“Huh?”

Haji, suddenly startled, turned her head. Thanks to that, her mind, which had wandered off thinking about last night’s events, came back all at once.

“The new part-timer is here.”

“Ah……”

In the direction Sehee pointed, a sturdy young man could be seen. The man, who bowed slightly when their eyes met, had short hair that gave off a military vibe. 

Looking at his distinct features, it was clear he was Seojin’s cousin.

“Please come this way.”

After going to the inner break room and hearing a brief introduction and guidance on future tasks, the two came out together. 

“Sehee, this is Seon Woobae who will be working with us. Woobae, this is Hong Sehee. Feel free to ask her if you have any questions.”

After introducing the two, Haji looked around the hall. It was quiet as it was past lunchtime and there were hardly any people. 

“When did you discharge from the military, Woobae?”

“A month ago.”

“Are you going back to university?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What’s your major?”

“Business administration.” 

Woobae, who was answering Sehee’s curious questions one by one, still seemed to have the military spirit as he used formal speech endings.

“Boss, Woobae is handsome but his way of speaking……”

“It can’t be helped yet. Shall we teach him how to make drinks first?” 

His speech was still too stiff to take orders, so Haji thought it best to have him focus on making drinks for now and called Woobae over.

“Did you come to work at a cafe because you wanted to?”

“No, that’s not it……” 

Woobae hesitated and stopped speaking, looking uncomfortable at Sehee’s unfinished question. It seemed like he was specifically looking at Haji.

“Why? Feel free to speak.”

Haji also knew that he, being a college student, couldn’t work here for long. So she had guessed he didn’t think of it as a proper job and was fine with any reason.

“My cousin told me to come.”

“Your cousin? You mean Sunbae Seojin?”

Woobae nodded. Seeing this, Haji tilted her head.

Why did he do that? 

It would have been fine even if she had found someone herself. 

“Did you come here against your will?”

“No, that’s not it. I also wanted to do it for the experience.”

“That’s good. I look forward to working with you.” 

The conversation between the two ended as Woobae hastily shook his head at Haji’s careful question. 

If it had been against his will, she was thinking of asking Seojin. She couldn’t be around someone working with an uncomfortable feeling either.

***

Clack, clack, a man’s footsteps echoed down the company hallway. Seojin didn’t look out of place at all in a place where eye-catching glamorous photos of celebrities were plastered all over the company.

“How may I help you?”

The CEO’s secretary asked Seojin while recalling the list of models they had recently contracted. She couldn’t guess which one he might be, though.

“I’m Ki Seojin, CEO of SA Construction.”

“Ah, yes. Please wait a moment.” 

Momentarily flustered by the unexpected introduction, the secretary tried to appear composed as she picked up the phone. 

“A guest has arrived. It’s CEO Ki Seojin from SA Construction.” 

After briefly ending the call, the secretary looked at Seojin. His black eyes contrasted with his pale skin, making him look even sharper. 

“You can go right in.” 

Seojin opened the CEO’s office door without hesitation. Clack, as the door opened and closed, a middle-aged black woman sitting in a chair stood up. With a smile.

“Welcome, Seojin.”

“It’s been a while.” 

Seojin bowed slightly at the waist. She was the practical head of the “Multistar” agency, not known to the public.

And also Emily’s mother. Clover, her Korean name was Kim Rober.

“Indeed, it’s hard to see your face unless it’s for work, isn’t it?”

“That’s how it turned out.”

Seojin spoke briefly and honestly. It was a judgment that being honest without unnecessary excuses would create a better situation.

Click click, Rober in heels stood in front of Seojin. Despite being in her mid-60s, Rober maintained a slender figure no different from when she was a model.

“I like that you don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“Thank you.”

You act sly even though you know it’s not a compliment.”

You’re consistent. Even after making my Emily cry.

Recalling the events from ten years ago inwardly, Rober sat on the sofa first. Seojin followed and sat down.

“You’re nothing like your parents. If you were, you’d be a bit more gentle.”

“There’s no need for me to be like that too.”

Rober, who was friends with Seojin’s parents, shrugged her shoulders. She had deliberately provoked him with impolite words, but his reaction was as expected.

What a boring young man. What does he find fun in life? He’s smart, good-looking, from a good family…

After briefly scanning Seojin’s face, Rober shook her head and opened her mouth.

“You came to negotiate?”

“I’d appreciate it if you could see it as me coming to find value matching the down payment.”

“We’ll have to see about that.”

Even at Rober’s prickly words, Seojin nodded. He already knew she wouldn’t be an easy opponent. 

Seojin placed his laptop in front of Rober.

“You’ll know soon.”

His confident tone seemed to already know the result.

“Let’s see.”

The prepared material started as a video on the laptop screen.

The scene that started with the entire screen filled with a single rebar created confusion. She was curious about what he was trying to do.

Soon, as the view moved away from the rebar, ruins that looked like they could collapse at any moment appeared, and the desolate land and buildings seen from the high sky view naturally changed into a person’s palm print.

“Huh……”

 And then Emily appeared and started walking there. Holding the rebar.

 Rober frowned at that sight.

The young Emily walking between buildings gradually grew up and became an adult, appearing smiling among dazzling lights in the form we know. 

And behind Emily, instead of the desolate buildings and land, buildings that anyone would want to live in were erected one after another.

“……”

After the video ended, Rober didn’t say a word. She just clenched her fist with her mouth tightly shut.

She knew too well what this video was saying. Various emotions like anger, shame, and embarrassment boiling up inside were mixed.

Hoo, Rober let out a small breath, suppressing her feelings.

“Are you telling me to reveal Emily’s past now?”

She tried to speak calmly, but her voice trembled finely, unavoidably. Realizing this about herself, Rober’s teeth clenched on her red lips. 

“I’m showing Emily’s past, and the hope for children who will grow up in the future.”

“How can Emily growing up in an orphanage without parents be hope? How much of this nonsense am I supposed to listen to?”

“How long do you expect Emily to deceive people because of your own shame?”

“What did you say?” 

Seojin straightened his previously lowered back and clasped his hands. The sharpness in his languid voice was piercing.

As the emotions she had been suppressing were revealed in her agitated voice, Rober crossed her legs and folded her arms, taking a defensive posture. An attitude reflecting her psychology of not wanting to hear his words properly. 

“You must know that she couldn’t get close to people, first out of loneliness as a child, and now for fear of being found out.”

At Seojin’s words, Rover clenched her hands. The guilt from that day surged, leaving her breathless.

“Don’t you think you should reconcile?”

Every night, she regretted that moment. From the night she left her child behind.

She had chosen overseas modeling work as a way to make a living in a foreign country, but after her success, it was too late to be forgiven by her child.

Although she’s still awkward with Emily, she didn’t bring up that incident deliberately. For fear of exposing unnecessary wounds.

Why bring it up again when they’re living quietly?

“Surely you don’t expect Emily to live her whole life burying that incident in her heart? You wouldn’t, right? You’ve been doing all the sponsorship you can for children in orphanages, children’s organizations, and pediatric hospitals, as if atoning.”

“……”

“You wouldn’t want your own child to live in hell.”

At these last words, Rober’s steadfast shoulders began to tremble. Like someone hit right on the mark.

Seojin didn’t miss this reaction from Rober. It was as he had expected. He also knew that now was the appropriate time to lay out the words he had prepared.

“This advertisement will spread nationwide, no, worldwide. Then Emily will be labeled as a pitiful model who grew up without parents, a successful model with a painful past, a model who grew up lonely in a foreign land. These labels will follow her name.”

Rober’s eyes sharpened. No parent in the world would want such labels attached to their child. Moreover, since all of this started from her wrong choice, she felt it even more strongly. She only wanted to avoid hurting that child again.

“I won’t let that happen. I won’t let such labels stick. The kind of symbol I want Emily to be known as is…”

Seojin calmly met Rober’s glaring eyes. As if he knew he wasn’t wrong.

“A strong person, a successful person, a person who overcame pain, a person who gives hope. I will show her as someone who stands firm with just one rebar on barren land and finds her own way.”

“Are you certain?”

“I am certain.”

Rober looked into Seojin’s eyes. As if she could see through them.

His eyes held as much power as the firmly spoken words. Although he was her friend’s child, he was a difficult child for her.

Well, he was a child that even his own parents found difficult. Though he was too grown to be called a child anymore.

Still, this was too risky a gamble. The fact that Emily was at stake in this gamble was the most concerning thing.

“How will you handle people who think as they please? Are you asserting that you can make people’s hearts go your way?”

“I will show her as a goddess building houses on that path. Like Gaia, the goddess of the earth, she will become a mother of creation for children. This is the value that exceeds the down payment you proposed.”

Ha, a laugh burst from Rober’s mouth. Her stiff shoulders felt sore. The content Seojin was talking about unfolded naturally in her mind. Ironically, it did. So that she couldn’t even find fault with it.

When you’ve been in this field long enough, you see what’s possible, what’s not, ambition, speculation, those kinds of things. This guy only brought the real deal.

She wasn’t unaware that Emily had already agreed to do this advertisement. She had only demanded an excessive contract fee to annoy him, thinking it was cheeky for the guy who had dumped Emily ten years ago to say he needed her now.

“What is this housing project that you’re going to such lengths for?”

Really …